6 Mindset Shifts That Will Improve Your Life

Is it true that people have a natural resistance to change? Dig a little deeper and you might discover that resistance to change is just the symptom and that people have a natural resistance to feeling incompetent. Humiliation is a deep fear we all possess; we don’t want to feel or look incompetent and change has the potential to activate that feeling.

But what if we conditioned ourselves to feel good about pushing our personal boundaries? What if our fear of feeling incompetent was less than our desire to learn something new?

This won’t happen naturally. It has to be taught. And it has to be maintained on a regular basis. If not, we will slowly drift into losing our curiosity, and with that, our vitality. Inquisitiveness atrophies over time. Our natural bent toward laziness is exacerbated by inactivity. Contentment is a great virtue, but its shadow side is apathy. It’s natural to grow accustomed to our surroundings, but as John F. Kennedy once said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

1. Question the status quo.

By doing this, you will be facilitating the skill of critical unlearning. What do we need to stop doing? What do we need to leave behind? What do we need to forget? What do we need to ignore? This is important if we want to grow and go forward.

2. Challenge your assumptions.

Just because that’s how we’ve always done it doesn’t mean that we should keep doing it the same way. This can lead to the bias of experience, that the way we’ve done it is still the right way to do it. Go below the surface and discover the belief that is driving that behavior. What is the belief behind the habit or process we were taught? Even if the belief is right, does it have a different application today? If it’s valid, our commitment will go even deeper. If it’s not, we might need to do some innovating.

3. Try something new.

This often leads to something better. Occasionally it comes through association with others. What seemed like an impediment to progress became a breakthrough in efficiency. Sometimes it’s as simple as trying an unfamiliar food. Experiment, test, expose. People tend to see danger where there is only difference.

4. Repurpose something old.

Sometimes the pearl gets lost in the process. The principle is good, but the delivery system is outdated. Don’t miss the reliable because it’s cluttered and camouflaged with irrelevance. This is more than recycling. It’s also about ideas, attitudes, emotional intelligence, money, simplicity and wisdom.

5. Connect with the bigger picture.

Synthesizing your life illuminates your path. Learning and growing is about capacity and skill. But it’s also about connecting the dots. That is hard to do without knowing the bigger purpose of who we are and what we want. This takes learning to a whole new level. You are no longer just a teacher. You are a master teacher.

6. Trust what you know.

Trusting what you know gives you the courage to try new things. Here’s what I know: